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Psych paper 2 > Approaches- learning approach > Flashcards

Approaches- learning approach Flashcards

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1
Q

What is localisation of brain functioning

A

the theory that specific areas of the brain are associated with particular physical and psychological functions

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2
Q

Three concentric layers of the brain

A

The central core The limbic system The cerebral cortex

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3
Q

What does the central core do- very brief

A

Regulates our most primitive and involuntary behaviours Regulates eating and drinking and regulates endocrine system to maintain homeostasis

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4
Q

What does the limbic system do- very brief

A

Contains the parts of the brain involved in controlling our emotions

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5
Q

What does the cerebral cortex do- very brief

A

Regulates our higher intellectual processes

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6
Q

What is hemispheric lateralisation

A

The dominance of one hemisphere of the brain for particular physical and psychological functions

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7
Q

Which hemisphere are broca’s and Wernicke’s areas located (in most people)

A

Left hemisphere

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8
Q

What is Broca’s area responsible for

A

Converting thought into speech. I.e spontaneous communication

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9
Q

What is Wernicke’s area responsible for

A

Understanding and producing speech

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10
Q

What lobes are the sensory and motor movements in

A

Parietal lobe

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11
Q

What is the location for the awareness of what we are doing in our environment (our consciousness)

A

Frontal lobe

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12
Q

What is the location for vision

A

Occipital lobe

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13
Q

What is the location for auditory ability

A

Temporal lobe

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14
Q

Which lobe is the motor cortex in

A

Frontal lobes

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15
Q

What lobe is the somatosensory cortex in

A

Parietal lobe

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16
Q

What lobe is the visual cortex in

A

Occipital lobe

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17
Q

What lobe is the auditory cortex in

A

Temporal lobe

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18
Q

What does contralateral mean with reference to the motor cortex

A

the primary motor cortex on the right frontal lobe controls movement on the left side of the body and vice versa

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19
Q

What does somatotopically organised mean

A

point-for-point correspondence of an area of the body to a specific point on the motor cortex

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20
Q

What does the primary somatosensory cortex detect

A

Sensory events arising from receptors in the different areas of the body.

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21
Q

What does the somatosensory cortex do

A

Using sensory information from the skin, it produces sensations of touch, pressure, pain and temperature, which it then localises to specific body regions

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22
Q

How is the somatosensory cortex organised

A

Somatotopically

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23
Q

Both sides of the brain have a somatosensory cortex meaning it is ….

A

Contralateral

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24
Q

What transmits nerve impulses from the retina to the brain

A

The optic nerve

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25
Q

How is the auditory cortex contralateral

A

Information from the right ear travelling primarily to the left auditory cortex and vice versa

26
Q

Where do the auditory pathways begin

A

In the cochlea, in the inner ear

27
Q

What is the steps of the auditory pathway?

A

1) The cochlea where sound waves are converted to nerve impulses 2) Then the brain stem where basic decoding takes place 3) Finally the thalamus where sound is recognised and interpreted

28
Q

Evaluation for localisation of function -Research evidence, Wernickes and hippocampus

A

Research support from human clinical case studies of the loss of specificabilities after restricted brain damage e.g. receptive aphasia following damage to Wernicke’s area and amnesia followingdamage to specific areas of the hippocampus.This suggests that some functions of the brain are localised at least in part

29
Q

Evaluation- plasticity disproves localisation

A

The Plasticity of brain function argues that localisation of function is largely incorrect. More recent research into the plasticity of the brain shows that key areas for keyfunctions can be changed in the light of injury / functional recovery after brain injury. It may be the case that simpler functions are likely to be more localised in the brain,eg motor control but more sophisticated aspects of the brain can swap and changebased on circumstances

30
Q

Evaluation- Strength of Sperry’s research

A

A strength of Sperry’s procedure was that by using a mixture of quasi-experiments and clinical case studies, he was able to combine qualitative and quantitative approaches. As the quasi-experiment is a quantitative method of data collection, it provides information in the form of numbers and frequencies, and so can be easily analysed statistically. On the other hand, the case study is a qualitative method of data collection which is concerned with describing meaning. This means that a combination of methods allows for the collection of statistically reliable information to be enhanced by information about the research participants.

31
Q

Evaluation- using post mortem studies for evidence for Brocas and Wernickes area

A

Much of the evidence for Wernicke’s Broca’s areas comes from post-mortem studies which investigate the brain after death. Although this may help to pinpoint areas of the brain involved in different functions, itis not possible to then refine the understanding of these functions by getting theparticipant to do further tasks.This means that more modern methods of brain imaging on live patients might revealmore accurate information.

32
Q

Evaluation- using case studies for evidence for Brocas and Wernickes area

A

Much of the research into Wernicke’s and Broca’s areas comes from case studyevidence. These studies involve individuals and investigate the effect of damage to their brainon their cognitive functions. However, these effects may be specific to the individuals concerned and may not begeneralisable to others. This is particularly true as the lateralisation of language areas tothe right hemisphere is not universal.

33
Q

What is prosopagnosia

A

The loss of ability to recognise familiar faces or identify faces at all

34
Q

What is synaptogenesis

A

Where new synapses are formed. This can occur throughout life but during infancy, exuberant synaptogenesis is experienced

35
Q

What is neurogenesis

A

This refers to when new neurons are grown. In infancy this is responsible for populating the growing brain with neurons, but also occurs in adulthood.

36
Q

What is exuberant synaptogenesis

A

An explosion of synaptic formation during infancy

37
Q

What is Synaptic/axon pruning

A

the process of synapse elimination that typically happens between early childhood and the onset of puberty. However, this has also been shown to occur to a lesser extent in adulthood.

38
Q

What did Khun et al find

A

They found significant increases in neural connections in certain areas of the brain (e.g. the hippocampus, the prefrontal cortex and the cerebellum) responsible for key behaviours such as working memory, planning and motor performance.

39
Q

What does Khun’s research support

A

Synaptogenesis -because more grey matter is developing in these areas to deal with the increase in function.

40
Q

What did Khun et al do

A

Illustrated the potential benefits of playing Super Mario for 2 months (at least 30 mins per day).

41
Q

Why did the hippocampus change during dependent plasticity (computer gaming)

A

Likely to reflect navigational learning in the game.

42
Q

Why did the prefrontal cortex change during dependent plasticity (computer gaming)

A

This area is involved in many cognitive processes. At the most basic level just learning when new behaviours are appropriate is likely to be changing this area of the brain.

43
Q

Why did the cerebellum change during dependent plasticity (computer gaming)

A

The increase here is likely to be due to the visual-motor learning in order to play the game

44
Q

What did Maguire do and what did he find

A

Studied the brains of London taxi drivers using an MRI and found significantly more grey matter in the posterior hippocampus than in the matched control group (non-taxi drivers).

45
Q

What is the posterior hippocampus associated with

A

The development of spatial and navigational skills.

46
Q

As part of their training London Cabbies must take a complex test called __________ which assesses their recall of the city streets and possible routes.

A

‘the knowledge’,

47
Q

What did Koppleman do and what did he find

A

Studied the effect of no gravity in space and how this affects the brain.27 astronauts were brain scanned before a space mission, then again upon their return.Between 2 weeks – 6 months in space…Cerebellum shrunk (involved in coordination) = this effect was positively correlated with time in spaceHowever, the motor and somatosensory regions were swollen

48
Q

Who did Koppleman’s sample consist of

A

27 astronauts

49
Q

What did the astronaut’s brains show after 2 weeks- 6 months in space

A

Cerebellum shrunk (involved in coordination) = this effect was positively correlated with time in spaceHowever, the motor and somatosensory regions were swollen

50
Q

What is neural plasticity

A

In cases of loss of brain function, areas are sometimes able to adapt or compensate for those areas that are damaged.

51
Q

What is neural regeneration

A

AKA- axon sprouting Occurs when new nerve endings grow and connect with undamaged areas. This can compensate for damaged areas and enable the recovery of previously lost functioning. This can be seen as a type of SYNAPTOGENESIS.

52
Q

What is neural unmasking

A

This occurs when ‘dormant synapses’ in the brain (which exist anatomically but are blocked from functioning) are opened and become functional. This can be seen as a type of SYNAPTOGENESIS / NEUROGENESIS.

53
Q

When may neural unmasking occur

A

When a surrounding brain area becomes damaged, as rate of input to these dormant synapses would increase opening connections to regions of the brain that are not normally activated, allowing the gradual development of new structures.

54
Q

What is neural reorganisation

A

This occurs when the brain transfers functions from the damaged area to undamaged sections of the brain. For example, if Broca’s area in the left hemisphere was damaged then an area on the right hemisphere might take over. In extreme cases (and with intensive therapy) whole areas of the brain can take over the functions of damaged sections.

55
Q

What did Danelli do

A

Investigated a case of a boy who had most of his left hemisphere removed aged 2 ½ to remove a tumour. With intensive therapy, his right hemisphere was able to take over almost all of the functioning (language, speech etc) that would normally have been done by the left.

56
Q

Evaluation -evidence, Danellli

A

A strength of the theory is there is supporting research DANELLIShows support for neural reorganisation as his right hemisphere completely took over

57
Q

Evaluation -problem with evidence

A

A weakness is its a case study so lacks population validityYoung Italian male - not representative / generalisable / androcentricThere are problems with generalising these findings to the whole population

58
Q

Evaluation -practical problems, Teubar

A

Recovery from brain trauma is not universal and there are a number of factors that may influence an individual’s ability to recover. One identified factor is age, with most research indicating that functional plasticity reduces with age.Teubar (1975) studied soldiers with brain damage. He found that recovery was age dependent:60% under 20 showed significant improvement20% over the age 26 showed similar improvementThis was a negative correlation between age and recovery.This could mean that age mediates the degree of functional recovery and therefore in theory this impacts our ability to put in place practical applications and treatments for older individuals.

59
Q

Evaluation - practical applications, Gazzeley

A

This area of research is leading to very useful PRACTICAL APPLICATIONSGazzeley et al (2013) research has shown that prescribing some individuals who suffer from cognitive decline (e.g. early onset dementia) a diet of playing specific video games on a daily basis - can help their brains keep more organised and efficient ‘Neuroracer’ has been seen to have just this effect This implies the field of plasticity and functional recovery can significantly help some individuals to recover.

60
Q

Evaluation- evidence, Maguire

A

Structural MRI scans were obtained. 16 right-handed male London taxi drivers participated; all had been driving for more than 1.5 years. Scans of 50 healthy right-handed males who did not drive taxis were included for comparison. The mean age did not differ between the two groups.Results: 1) Increased grey matter was found in the brains of taxi drivers compared with controls in two brain regions, the right and left hippocampi. The increased volume was found in the posterior (rear) hippocampus.Shows evidence for synaptogenesis as more grey matter

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